Cox Business scores with financial firms

Cox Business, a division of Cox Communications, announced today that it has inked agreements with two financial service firms: San Diego County Credit Union and Pensacola, Fla.-based O’Sullivan Creel.

Cox Business has been drawing a bead on providing commercial services of voice, video and data to financial service firms, as well as the health care, education and government sectors, all of which need secure and reliable communications platforms.

“Financial institutions process millions of transactions daily, and the accuracy, reliability and security of the information impacts the market at large and the spending power of consumers,” said Kristine Faulkner, vice president of product development and management for Cox Business. “Cox voice, data and video products are designed with carrier-class reliability to create a high level of trust with our finance customers, something they can confidently pass on to their clients.”

San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU) is San Diego’s largest locally based financial institution, with more than $4.8 billion in assets, and is wholly owned and operated by its 205,000 members.

SDCCU uses Cox Metro Ethernet to transmit transactional and operational data between its 27 locations and has complex disaster recovery circuits in place that automatically reroute data during an unexpected outage or crisis. The Cox Business platform also includes PRI (primary rate interface) advanced voice circuits and dedicated Internet access for SDCCU employees at the corporate headquarters and branch locations.

Cox said O’Sullivan Creel is one of the largest independent accounting firms in the Southeast and has been a pioneer in creating a paperless office environment, allowing more efficient use of office space and effective workload balancing across 140 team members who have access to client files anytime, anywhere.

With heavy reliance on client data and offices on the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast, O’Sullivan Creel has heightened concerns for hurricane disaster recovery capabilities.

Cox Business allowed O’Sullivan Creel to move duplicate data servers into Cox’s Category 3 hurricane-resistant colocation facility that includes generator and battery back-up in the event of commercial power failure. These servers are backed up in real time via a 100 Mbps fiber Cox Metro Ethernet connection, and O’Sullivan Creel can offer clients 24/7 access to personal account information through a secure client portal.

The Cox Business solution also includes PRI voice service, and O’Sullivan Creel is using VoIP phone systems to transmit internal calls without additional cost over the Cox Metro Ethernet network.

“Natural disasters are part of life in many parts of the country, including the Gulf Coast, and Cox Business’ data back-up solution gives us peace of mind the next time one occurs,” said Paul Winters, senior manager of information technology at O’Sullivan Creel. “The Cox Business solution perfectly complements the internal, paperless initiatives we’ve implemented and ensures that we can more effectively serve our clients.”